Joe Versus the Volcano
JOE VERSUS THE VOLCANO (PG)
D: John Patrick Shanley
Warner Bros./Amblin (Teri Schwartz)
US 1990
102 mins
Comedy/Adventure
W: John Patrick Shanley
DP: Stephen Goldblatt
Ed: Richard Halsey
Mus: Georges Delerue
Tom Hanks (Joe Banks), Meg Ryan (DeDe / Angelica /
Patricia), Lloyd Bridges (Samuel Graynamore), Robert Stack (Dr. Ellison), Abe Vigoda (Chief Tobi), Dan Hedaya (Frank Waturi)
Along with Bonfire Of The Vanities, this film made
1990 a rather miserable year for Tom Hanks, well below the standard of film or performance you'd expect from such a good actor. This maudlin and depressing so-called "comedy" really is
rather awful.
Hanks plays Joe, constantly depressed by his job, he
is convinced by a doctor into thinking he has a terminal illness and later conned by a tycoon that if he sacrifices himself on a volcanic island, he will be rewarded by living like a king
in the month leading up to his date with the volcano. All so the tycoon can continue making orange soda with the island's indigenous fruit.
It's so very silly, especially with Meg Ryan turning
up in three different wigs, trying (unconvincingly) to be three different people.
Watching this may make you wish to sacrifice yourself.
Bring on the volcano already!
5/10
